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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Garnfellow" data-source="post: 3285596" data-attributes="member: 1223">I find it to be a tremendous improvement in play, particularly with higher level creatures with many abilities. The extra whitespace and logical organization make it much easier for me to find the info I need quickly. I recently ran an encounter using the old-style paragraph glob of data, and it was a huge pain.I also like that the new format is essentially used for both new monster entries as well as NPC statblocks -- it makes it much easier to cut and paste, and I hated having two completely separate formats.A couple of the common criticisms of the new format really don't bother me that much: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It's Too Long - James Jacobs, who probably knows more about these things than anyone else, has written that the new statblock is not actually the huge space hog it would appear to be. I don't think this is nearly the calamity it is often portrayed as being.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hit Dice Aren't Broken Out - In a game situation, it's fairly common to need to a creature's total HD, but I can't think of a single instance where I needed to know the exact HD breakdown. In the middle of a hot and heavy combat, while I'm managing 6 spell effects, 8 monsters, and 3 NPCs, I really don't need to waste a few extra beats while I calculate (and then check) 3d8+6 plus 4d6+4 plus 7d12+7 in my head. (It's 14, right?) My impression is that most DMs (and note that EnWorld's population is NOT representative of most DMs) are not math prodigies and don't have the time to add class levels, templates, alternative ability arrays, and other cool mods, and thus never really need the HD breakdown. For those DMs with the time and inclination to make these mods (and come on, aren't we the supah-elite DMs anyway?), I'd don't think it's really that hard to back-calculate the breakdown, unlike skills, for example.</li> </ul>I see this new format as still evolving, though, and some small improvements are probably forthcoming as vestigial features drop off and new ones are added. Why waste space on the Ability line with the word "Ability"? Why not just bold the ability abbreviations, as is done on the saving throw line? And I think some of the common redundancies should be removed -- if "Ride-By Attack" is on the Speed line, and  "Combat Expertise" is on the Attack Options line, why repeat them on the feat line, just as combat gear isn't repeated on the Possessions line. That said, I've been very unimpressed by some of the small changes WotC has tried in recent products; I've seen very little improvement and even a couple steps backward. For my money, the way Paizo uses the format seems to be the current best standard.</blockquote>

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